After his escape from Confederate custody on August 19, 1863, Benjamin Drummond rowed out into the Gulf of Mexico where he was taken aboard the Union gunboat USS Katahdin and promptly transferred to the this ship, which recorded Drummond's arrival in the logbook and transported him to New Orleans where he was admitted to the Naval Hospital for treatment. In 2003, the wreck of the USS Tennessee (renamed the SS Republic after the Civil War) was recovered by Odyssey Marine Exploration, based in Tampa, Florida, along with a about one-third of the gold and silver coins it was carrying when it sank in 1865 during a hurricane. This is a digital copy of a photograph held by the Naval Historical Center at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, DC.
An oceangoing side wheel steamship built in Baltimore for Charles Morgan's Texas Line, she was named the Tennessee when launched in 1853. The Tennessee sailed the Baltimore - Charleston route, made the first trans-Atlantic crossing by a Baltimore steamship, and opened the first regular passenger steamship service between New York City and South America. During the California Gold Rush she took passengers to Atlantic coast of Panama and Nicaragua, and later sailed the Vera Cruz, Mexico - New Orleans route. When the Civil War began on April 12, 1861, the Tennessee, tied up in New Orleans, was seized by the Confederate government to serve as a blockade runner. After the Union captured New Orleans on April 28, 1862, the Tennessee was seized by the Union Navy and served as the flagship of Admiral Farragut, and later used in the bombardment of Ft. Morgan during the Battle of Mobile Bay. Damaged in a hurricane in 1864, she was sold at auction (March, 1865) and re-named the SS Republic, and sank on October 25, 1865, about 100 miles off of Savannah, Georgia, during a hurricane while on her fifth voyage between New York and New Orleans. While most of the passengers survived, the cargo of $400,000 (1865 value) in gold and silver coins was lost. In August 2003, the wreck was located by Odyssey Marine Exploration, Incorporated, a commercial archaeology company based in Tampa, Florida. The firm recovered an estimated one-third of the coins. The National Geographic Society documented the effort and created a film titled Civil War Gold. For more information refer to the Dictionary of American Fighting Ships.
This site is sponsored by the Friends of the Old Naval Hospital
Last updated October 26, 2008
